Merit Financial Advisors is hiring a new M&A deal leader, the firm announced today.
David Wahlen will join the firm as vice president of strategic partners from Captrust, where he was most recently director of strategic growth. In his new role, Wahlen will be the main point of contact between the $12 billion Merit and the firms it is looking to acquire.
Among other duties, Wahlen will source potential new deals, build relationships with investment bankers and work with Merit CEO Rick Kent and President Kay Lynn Mayhue to smooth the onboarding process for the firms. According to Kent, Wahlen's “deep industry knowledge and collaborative approach” would be essential as the firm expands its M&A deals.
According to Merit, Wahlen played a central role in over 50 M&A deals at Captrust and helped the firm grow from $5 billion to $80 billion in assets under management during his six-year tenure.
Since its formation in 1998, Merit has acquired more than 40 firms, adding approximately $10 billion in client assets. The pace of acquisitions jumped sharply starting in late 2020 when private equity firm Wealth Partners Capital Group took a small stake in the firm (in partnership with several strategic investors led by HGGC's Aspire Holdings platform).
Since that deal, Atlanta-based Merit has added about 30 firms with more than 40 offices nationwide. Earlier this month, Merit expanded its presence in Pennslyvania acquiring Zimmerman Investment Management & Planning, a $739 million firm based in New Cumberland. In doing so, Merit won a fourth office in the state.
Additionally, last month, Merit acquired Roth Asset Management, a $773 million firm based in Lake Oswego, Ore.which increased its presence in the Pacific Northwest, and Trinity Financial Partnersa woman-owned firm based in Berwyn, Pa., which manages approximately $603 million in client assets.
In late July, Merit Financial spun off from LPL and later moved its business to Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments.
The move followed LPL's July earnings call, in which then-LPL CEO Dan Arnold said some of the firms' supervisory jurisdiction offices were “strategically misaligned” with the firm's mission and model (WealthManagement.com reported that Wealth Growth Group it was the other firm).
At the beginning of this year, Brian Andrew joined Mer as its chief investment officer from his previous role at Johnson Investment Group. Samantha Allen, a former senior vice president of integrated marketing at Carson Group, announced last month that she would be joining Merit as executive vice president of marketing.
Last year, Brian Greene also joined from The Carson Group as managing director of operations and executive vice president. Doug Baxley and John Cote joined as chief compliance officer and chief growth officer, respectively. Baxley was previously with Silver Oak Securities and Cambridge Investment Research, while Cote was previously with Wealth Enhancement Group.